There is a growing pattern in the responses to the revelations of
bad acts committed by the Bush administration in its execution of the
war. Specifically, the controversies surrounding Guantonimo Bay and
The Downing Street Memo are being disputed, not with the argument
that the allegations aren't true, but that the publicity
surrounding those controveries will simply encourage the enemies of
the United States.
The logic goes like this:
Talk about something bad that the
U.S. has done.
Enemies of the U.S. use those
stories as grounds for attacking the U.S. and encouraging
recruitment.
The threat to the U.S. grows.
Therefore, talking publicly about
these controversies does nothing but increase the threat to the U.S.
Furthermore, those who talk about
these controversies are so desirous to embarrass the Bush
administration that they aren't concerned about the threat posed by
these public revelations.
Now, here's the thing: this is not an
entirely bogus argument. We do not do our side any favors if we
simply dismiss the argument that talking about these controversies
increases the threat to the United States. It does. The publicity
surrounding Gitmo and the Downing Street Memo will be used as
recruiting tools by our enemies. They will encourage the
recruitment of new terrorists. If we who are Bush administration
critics deny this then we will look like naïve fools.
Unfortunately, those who make this
argument want to put the onus on the critics for what happens next.
If we criticize these acts then we are only encouraging our enemies,
the argument goes. If we don't want to encourage our enemies then we
should just shut up about it. This is the flaw in the argument.
It isn't the revelations of torture and
war mongering that are endangering the United States. It is the acts
of torture and war mongering that are endangering the United States.
It is the approval of acts of torture and war mongering
that are endangering the United States. Responsibility for the
consequences of an act comes from committing the act, not the
revelation of the act. It is self-serving naivete (or worse) that
leads people to think that remaining silent about acts of torture and
warmongering are the true signs of patriotism.
But then, respond the critics of the
critics, even if the responsibility lies with those who commit the
acts, doesn't the act of revealing these acts also bear
with it a responsibility for the consequences? Wouldn't it be better
to just �??move on�?? and not risk the consequences that will
inevitably come from the revelation of bad behavior?
No, and there are several reasons why:
The information will get out
anyway. Even if there is no full blown press media storm and/or
Congressional investigation with the revelation of �??smoking guns�??,
the stories about what is happening still manage to get out. Our
enemies are incredibly media savvy. They know how to find out about
this stuff. They know how to use google just as well as we do. So
avoiding talking about these acts will not stop the consequences. At
best it will just delay them.
The information that inevitably
leaks out comes through less reliable sources, therefore it is
inevitable that that information will be distorted and appear even
worse then it actually is. A negative opinion of the United States
and its leadership will be the ground upon which the seeds of rumor
will blossom into the most outrageous claims of attrocities. And you
don't have to be a terrorist to be susceptable to this. The average
citizen of the world already has the necessary negative opinion. By
trying to clamp down on revelations of these acts out of some
misguided notion of protecting us from the consequences we are only
encouraging the wildest of speculations. It is better to get the
true facts out in front of the ordinary citizens of the world before
the wild facts grow like weeds in their place.
Those who comitted these acts and
approved the committing of these acts cannot be removed from their
positions of authority without at least a partial revelation of the
reasons for their removal. And if they are not removed then they
will do it again. And when they do it again they just further damage
the reputation of the United States. You don't leave a criminal in
charge of your finances just because revealing that a criminal was
in charge of your finances might damage your reputation.
Finally, torture and war mongering
are wrong. They are evil. A moral nation does not
allow people to represent them who commit such acts. The failure to
remove them is the approval of their acts and thus the guilt for
those acts becomes the shared responsibility of all who want to bury
the truth. Do we want to be accessories to evil?
If we fail to reveal the full nature of
the acts that are being committed in our name then we become partners
in guilt.
If we fail to reveal the information
out of the fear that it will make us look bad then we will be
bad.
There will be negative consequences to
the public revelation of these acts. To deny that would be foolish.
But to think we can avoid those negative consequences by simply
shutting up about them is a level of foolishness that makes the
previous pale in comparison.
The
truth is the only viable option to a better future.